To Love Again
by nejitenteji10sasu10
Summary: When Sakura dumps Sasuke for the cold chicken butt head he is, she gets more than she bargained for. Luckily a certain Nara is here to save the day... SHIKASAKU... cute, i love the last part! RATED T.


**To Fall In Love Again**

**ShikaxSaku**

"Urrggh! He gets on my nerves so MUCH!" 19-year-old Sakura ranted under her breath. Of course, she was talking about her boyfriend, Sasuke Uchiha. "He might as well be an iceberg! God, he could be Antarctica!" she kicked pebbles on the road. "And he's always, 'if you put your hair up like this, you'd look hotter', 'if you'd wear red lipstick more often, you'd look hotter', 'if you'd wear this shirt, everyone can see your curves.' What, is he just trying to piss me off!? Show me off?! Show everyone that I'm HIS girlfriend? The nerve!" she growled and kicked a relatively large pebble.

"Ow!" a voice came from in front of her. "You troublesome person, watch where you're kicking."

_Shikamaru? _"Oh, gomen. Shikamaru-san?" the pinkette bowed slightly. "I didn't know you'd be here."

"Um, Sakura-san? You walked were I was watching clouds. I'm always here." The 19 year old Nara rose an eyebrow. _Uchiha again? _

"Mind if I join you? I just… wanna… relax." She murmured and dropped down to the grass next to him.

"Sure…" he murmured.

Well, if you looked closely at the young Nara, you'd see the slight pink tinge on his cheeks. And if you were great friends with him as Chouji Akimichi, you'd know about his undying love for Sakura Haruno. And if you were Shikamaru himself, you'd be using every strength in you to stop yourself from touching her hair.

Suddenly she murmured something under her breath.

"Huh?" Shikamaru turned his head towards Sakura, who was sitting up.

"I said that Sasuke Uchiha is a cold, lying, gay, hypocrite." She growled.

"Then break up with him." Shikamaru said smoothly.

Sakura stared at him like he just committed murder. "HUH?!"

"Break up with him. You hate him. You called him a cold lying gay hypocrite. If that isn't hate, what is?" Shikamaru murmured, staring at a cloud that was shaped like a cat.

"But… I… Break up with him?" she stared at him, as if the very thought mortified her.

"Must I explain this to you?" Shikamaru sat up and stared at her in the eye. "Troublesome. If you don't like him, there is no reason for the two of you to be together."

"Yeah, I know, but… how do I, Sakura Haruno, break up with-"

"A cold, lying, gay, hypocrite?" He finished, a smile playing on his face.

She swatted at him playfully. "No! With Sasuke Uchiha, that's who!"

"It's easy." Shikamaru stood up. "Stand up, Sakura-san."

She scowled at him.

"What?"

"Sakura-_chan_, Shikamaru-san. I prefer people who call me Sakura-_chan._" She tsked and then stood up, when suddenly Shikamaru's hand covered hers.

"Then you better call me Shikamaru-_kun._" He whispered into her ear.

Sakura fought back a shiver, and bit her lip to fight the pink tinge that was threatening to consume her face. He finally removed his hand, and said, "Pretend I'm that gay hypocrite. Break up with me."

"_What?!_"

"Break up with me. Although my hair doesn't look like a chicken butt, I can pretend to act like a cold hypocrite."

Sakura giggled. "Okay."

Shikamaru shoved his hands into his pockets and struck a pose that looked very similar to the gay- I mean, Sasuke. "I heard you wanted to talk to me?" Shikamaru said in a voice that clearly had a double meaning of, _I don't care._

Sakura almost burst out laughing. Who knew Shikamaru was like Sasuke in so many ways? "Uh… yeah."

"Well? On with it." Shikamaru said staring off into space like what Sasuke normally did.

"Sasuke, I… Things aren't working between us and I…" the words stuck in her throat, especially since Shikamaru was glaring at her that was so… familiar…

"Stop." Shikamaru relaxed, his brown eyes melting. "He's just going to take advantage of you if you keep stopping. You have to be firm. You have to say what's on your mind. Why you're breaking up with him."

"Oh. Okay then. But, Shikamaru-sa- I mean, Shikamaru-kun, how do you know all these things?" she asked, curiosity glinting innocently in her eyes.

The Nara stared at her, sad eyes meeting the green. "How do you think I broke up with Temari after she cheated on me?" he murmured.

"I… I'm sorry."

"No, it's nothing much. I, er, got over her." Shikamaru said, hands behind his head and glancing towards the pink-haired kunoichi. _I dumped her mainly because I couldn't stop thinking about you…_

"Can we try again?" She asked, trying to change the subject.

"Huh? Oh, sure." He resumed his earlier position and glare. "You wanted to talk to me?"

"Sasuke. I…" she took a deep breath. _You have to say what's on your mind. Why you're breaking up with him_. Shikamaru's voice echoed in her head. "I hate the way you treat me! It's as if you're only using me for show! Heck, it's like you're USING me! I don't even think you LOVE me! It's as if you want me to change! The way you always tell me how to dress? I'm not a trophy you can display whenever you want to! You always want to make me more beautiful. Couldn't you just love me because I'm me? And I feel like I'm not perfect. I know I'm not perfect, okay?! But all I wanted was appreciation. Now it's too late. We're done!" she practically yelled at Shikamaru, whose glare immediately melted into surprise.

"That… was good." Shikamaru said, relaxing his posture. "I seriously believed you. All you have to do is the exact same thing… when you're ready."

Sakura grinned. "I'm ready. Definitely. You were good practice, Shikamaru-kun. Thanks!" she grinned at him and walked away.

Shikamaru smiled at her retreating back and felt a pink tinge decorating his cheeks. Suddenly, she flinched, hesitated, then turned around. Shikamaru rose his eyebrow when she reached him. "What?"

She looked up at him, since she was only up to his shoulders. "Thanks. A lot." Then she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek, smiled, and ran off.

Shikamaru, meanwhile, had temporarily become blank. He absently touched his cheek, where Sakura had kissed him, and blinked.

_Did… Did Sakura Haruno just kiss me?_

--4 Days Later—

Shikamaru lay in the same spot he'd been 4 days ago. He wondered if she did it. He wondered when she'd come see him again. Heck, he wondered when she'd kiss him again. Suddenly a rush of leaves caught the shadow user's attention.

"Who's there?"

"Sh…Shikamaru-kun?" Sakura's about-to-break voice alarmed him.

"Sakura-chan, what's wrong?" He stood up and turned around, were a puffy-eyed Sakura stood, trembling.

"It's… Sa-sa-sasuke…" she then broke up into new sobs.

"Did you break up with him?" Shikamaru, suddenly feeling bold, walked to her and wrapped his arms around her. She sobbed into his jacket.

"I t-told him exactly what I told you… and then he just… l-laughed. (hic)"

"What?!"

"He laughed. And th-then…"

_Flashback_

"_So in the end, you'd be the one to dump me, little cherry blossom…" Sasuke smirked._

"_Don't call me that." Sakura snapped._

_He reached out a hand and placed it under her chin. "You're very pretty, Sakura. It's a shame you had to let me go." He smirked at her again._

"_There you go again! Ranting about my beauty as if… as if it belonged to you! This is exactly the reason why I'm breaking up with you!" _

_Sasuke tsked and withdrew his hand. "To tell the truth, I was waiting for this to happen."_

"_Wha…what?"_

"_I've been dating Ino for months. She's MUCH more prettier than you _**(A/N: SasuIno ewwwwwwwwww)** _and I was wondering when I could finally dump you and make her officially mine." He sneered at her._

"_I…Ino, huh." She stared at the ground. "You two deserve each other seeing as you're both backstabbers!" _

"_Backstabber? Me?" He laughed. "I was dating her before I dated you, __forehead__. Ino was more than happy. She hates you, you know. She was waiting for a chance to bring you down, anyway." _

_Sakura digested this information as Sasuke slowly ripped away pieces of her heart. _

"_To tell the truth, I only asked you to be my girlfriend because of your position! Pupil of a legendary Sannin as my girlfriend, I could be pop-u-lar." He said, stressing every syllable. "You're quite ugly, to tell the truth. I don't know what boy would ever date you with a straight mind. On second thought, maybe Naruto'd date you if he had the chance, but his IQ's probably the same as a rock… And your TEMPER. Good gracious _**(A/N: This jerk Sasuke keeps ranting on and on and starts acting like an old man, especially that 'Good gracious' part… yet there was no other way I could think about that would hurt Sakura so BADLY.) **_that's something you need to work on." He glared at her. "I never liked you, Sakura. Even when we were teammates. Just because I came back two years ago doesn't mean that my feelings for you have changed. You're a tool. You will always be a tool. I've taken advantage of you. And now, the glory's over. My next target will be the Hyuga girl. The Hyuga clan under my thumb. Hah."_

"_Don't… don't you dare do the same thing you did to me with Hinata! I swear, I'll kill you!" Sakura growled. _

"_How could you kill ME?" he paused. "You're weak and pathetic. And I don't feel sorry for you." _

_Sakura stared at him in disbelief. Then, pure instinct, she punched him with a chakra enforced hand. As he flew, she muttered, "Now who's weak and pathetic?" _

Shikamaru's face screamed bloody murder as Sakura told him this. Sakura collapsed into fresh tears on his vest and then Shikamaru patted her on the back and rested his chin over her head. They stayed that way until Sakura stopped sobbing. "Shikamaru-kun… I was an idiot, huh?"

"No." he said as Sakura looked up at him from his jacket. "Sasuke's the idiot. For letting a girl like you… who's smart… pretty… and the most amazing kunoichi I know… get away from his grasp. You're better than Ino. Way better than Ino." He smiled at her.

Sakura blushed. _The most amazing kunoichi I know… _"Really?"

He just smild at her and rested his head on hers. "Really."

--

The next day, Shikamaru had a mission. Not a mission that required him to put his life at stake - wait. In a way, it did. But it was nothing to go out of Konoha for.

He was gonna murder Sasuke Uchiha.

Not really. Probably knock some sense into the Uchiha freak. And if Ino was there, he'd tell her off so bad, her ears'd hurt. _No one hurts my Sakura! No one should DARE!_

His Sakura? Oh boy, he's got it bad.

He saw Sasuke on the sidewalk, looking as if he hadn't a care to the world. His girlfriend was nowhere to be found. He walked up to Sasuke, and through gritted teeth, said, "Uchiha. We need to talk."

"Whatever for, Nara?" he said, a smirk playing upon his lips.

"You. HURT. Her." Shikamaru practically growled.

"Ah. You must be talking about Sakura. The useless pinkie."

"SHE'S NOT USELESS!" Shikamaru yelled.

"Don't tell me… you like her?" Sasuke said, cocking his head, an amused look.

Shikamaru only responded with a glare that burned with the fire of – no, not Gai-sensei's, but Neji and Sasuke's glares combined. And Kakashi's.

"Tch. You can have her. She's nothing to me, anyway-"

Suddenly Shikamaru's fist connected with his jaw. Then Shikamaru's other fist connected with Sasuke's stomach. "You – jerk! It's not that! You… insulted her! You lowlife SCUM!" he punched Sasuke again.

Sasuke wiped his lower jaw with his sleeve. "You made a grave mistake, Nara."

--

3 hours later… in the hospital…

"Sh-Shikamaru-kun! I told you it was no big deal!" Sakura berated him in his hospital room as she examined him.

"It was no big deal, ya know…" Shikamaru grumbled.

"Well… it's not too bad, you know. He broke your nose, and you have bruises on your mid back. Your chakra flow's messed up, but I can clear that. And I think he kicked your knee. Is that amateur or what?" She giggled as her familiar mint green medical ninjutsu covered hands were placed over his knee.

Shikamaru grinned at her. "How much did he suffer?"

"Shizune-senpai's checking on him now… but so far, you fractured his jaw, cracked 2 ribs, broke his wrist, and partially blocked his chakra flow. And he's suffered a concussion, I think." She stared at him in surprise. "Nice job."

Shikamaru laughed. For someone who was training under Orochimaru, he was pretty weak. "I knew you'd appreciate it."

"And of course, some bruises and scratches all over… I was supposed to be the one to check him… but I begged to check you instead…" Sakura murmured.

The pain was clearly seen in Sakura's eyes. Shikamaru gently reached over and took her hand. "It's not true."

"Huh?"

"Everything he said… it's not true. You're pretty. You're beautiful." He emphasized. "Your temper isn't that bad… we can live. And you aren't a tool." He squeezed her hand as two tears slipped down her cheek.

"Arigatou, Shikamaru-kun… Thanks… for everything." She said quietly.

"Sakura?" Shikamaru called her name. Sakura didn't hear him and instead stared at the floor. "Sakura… I love you."

_H-Huh? _And then Sakura felt something weird. The urge to look into his eyes. Brown met emerald.

Before she realized what was happening, she was close to Shikamaru's face and then he kissed her. It was a gentle kiss, full of love, long and sweet. When he finally released her, their eyes met again.

And Sakura fell in love all over again.

--

**Hiya guys! Okay, expect a total one-shot rush for the next 3-4 days since I am in such a hurry to get all these ideas out before school starts again. Hey, daydreaming in class is totally so that I could make these ideas materialize. **

**And then there's another thing. My chapter stories, ****Sakura White and the Seven Genin, Replaced, Jealousy Starts with A Song, and 1 Week ****are currently on hold. My faithful readers, I am soooooo sorry, so truly sorry that I had to do this. I know, I know, I shouldn't have rushed with so many stories at the same time. That and WRITERS BLOCK for my chapter stories is taking its toll. **

**About the story: **

**I was kinda surprised with the speeches I made for Sasuke and Sakura. Very OOC for Sasuke, definitely. I think I made a Shikamaru a bit OOC here, too sweet, but I think my favorite ShikaSaku moment here was the kiss. And it wouldn't have happened if Shikamaru thought it was troublesome, right? **

**Shikamaru makes tons of comments towards Sasuke, like his reference to Sasuke's hair as a chicken butt. Which is true. And I like Shikamaru. He's cool.**

**Hahaha, so anyway, watch for the rush soon.**

**See you all,**

**Your Ka-chan (nejitenteji10sasu10) **


End file.
